Civil Engineering/concrete footing

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Expert: - 6/22/2011


Question
The existing house has 15 load-bearing steel piers. To build around each pier with 100mm x 200mm red bricks.  5 brick each level builds up to 62 levels or lines of red bricks, i.e. 320 bricks in total.  The brick column is non-load bearing but decorative in nature.

My qestion is
What kind of footing should be added to the existing concrete slab? or beneath the concrete slab?

Answer
Hi Alex,

This really depends on how thick the floor slab is, what rebar there is in it and also how strong the foundation is. Without such info, it will be guesswork, but I would imagine that a line of brickwork around the column will not really exert a very high load on the slab, so it may well be that you do not need to do any strengthening.

However, if you wish to be extra safe, you could weld on some supporting brackets at the bottom of the steel columns so that the bricks load is not transmitted to the floor slab.

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Arshad Khan

Expertise

I can answer any questions to do with civil and structural engineering consultancy and construction industry in East Africa and the Middle East, and specifically with the analysis and design of reinforced concrete structures. My particular expertise is in the aseismic design and optimisation of tall buildings.

Experience

Employment history: 36 years in Construction and consultancy in the UK, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Africa, Somalia, Zambia, Austria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Doha and the U.A.E.

Organizations
.Fellow of Institution of Structural Engineers (UK) .Fellow of Institution of Civil Engineers(UK) .Member of the Institution of Engineers, Kenya .Registered Engineer, ERB, Kenya .Member of the Architectural Association of Kenya (Engineers Chapter) .Chartered Engineer (UK)

Publications
•1984: International Conference on the Art and Practice of Structural Design, London •1994: 3rd Int. Kerensky Conference in Structural Engineering, Singapore •2008: International Conference on High-Rise Towers, Abu Dhabi

Education/Credentials
BSc, 1st Class Hons, in Building Engineering, University of Bath, UK MSc in Concrete Structures and Technology, University of London. Diploma of Imperial College, UK.

Awards and Honors
•Science Congress Special Award (for 2-seater Hovercraft - 1968) •Institution of Civil Engineers Award for outstanding performance at Bath University (1975) •Concrete Society Postgraduate study Bursary Award (1976) •Consular Representative for British High Commission, Nairobi. (1995 to 1998) •Examiner for Institution of Civil Engineers Professional Interviews, Nairobi. (1997 to 1998) •Branch Representative in Vienna for PI assessment for Inst. of Struct. Engrs. (1999 to date)

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